Performance Zen

Author: spierzchala

  • WSJ: Blocked by Subscription Model

    Chris Selland linked to an article about Steve Jobs that is in the WSJ. [here]
    Chris: See my previous post. The subscription model at the WSJ has foiled your attempt to share this with the rest of us.

  • NY Times: How much will you pay?

    Business 2.0 is asking how much you would pay to read the NY Times online. [here]
    My response: why? I don’t read newspapers anymore. I would pay nothing to read this online, when I can get news free from Reuters, BBC and Yahoo!, and commentary from blogs.
    MSM just does not understand. Their model is broken. It is 300 years old, and it is finally succumbing to it’s own dead weight.
    The forests of the world are breathing a sigh of relief.
    BusinessWeek, trying to support its brethern through it’s lame attempt to “blog”. [here]

  • Toolkit for the Technically Aware, Part 2

    In this post, I mimiced the list of tools that Brendon Connelly lists.
    I forgot to add some of my personal favourites and additions.

    • Cygwin: Makes any Windows machine able to run a linux-like terminal
    • Caffeine. Addicted.
    • Ethereal: If you are a geek, you need this. Packet-sniffing goodness
    • Trillian. Yeah, GAIM is open-source, but Trillian is just that much slicker
    • Firefox. Runs anywhere; need to know more?

    I know that most of these are more for the geek side of the house, but a lot of my traffic comes from those folks.
    Leave your additions in the comments.

  • Toolkit for the Technically Aware

    Brendon Connelly hits almost on all cylinders with this post. I was shocked to see someone who relies on almost exactly the same toolbox (in a different configuration) as I do.

    • I am off to buy a Moleskine Datebook
    • I use http://www.notetab.com/and vim to do most HTML/PHP/SQL/whatever editing
    • HyperSnap for screen capture
    • SQL in Microsoft/Sybase, MySQL, and Oracle flavours

    I have never been able to gracefully integrate a PDA into my life. I have tried 4 times, and all 4 have failed miserably. I am a pen and paper man for contacts, appointments, etc.

    Outlook Calendar is good for business meetings…but for the rest of your life?

    The one tool that he doesn’t mention: Google. I know that it is so omnipresent that it is easy to miss, but if you do fewer than 5 Google searches a day, and you work in high-tech…what do you do?

  • Trunk Monkey: Coming to a Car Near You

    This has the potential to be a really cool meme. I know that the animal rights crowd won’t like it, but, ya know…sometimes you just gotta run with the concept.

    Trunk Monkey

    Thanks to the guys in the NOC for this.

  • My Browser Stats for the Newest Industry

    This is the latest browser statistic breakdown for the Newest Industry. Data is gathered using the StatCounter.com application and is updated in real time.
    I will try and post this to the top of the system on a weekly basis.
    Thanks to Tim Bray for the inspiration.

  • The Tyranny of the Managers

    Sig hits for 6 with this post on the tension that exists between leaders and managers. [here]
    Where do exciting ideas, visions and concepts come from? Leaders.
    Who is responsible for stifling the unique voices of leaders? Command and Control Managers.
    The common thread I am reading on the business books I am pouring through right now is that you will get farther, be more successful, and get the chance to meet really cool people simply by being the person you are, and not letting your ideas be crushed.
    I have discovered that I can bring more to my company by doing less of my “job” and more thinking. I speak in an authentic voice, one that cries out to let our customers kick ass, be remarkable, and make an impact in the world.
    Ok, the last statment is not really the case: I really just help companies suck less, and understand how to do it more successfully.
    But by doing less jon and being more leader, I feel more fulfilled. And frankly, this role is how my mind is tuned anyway.
    Bring me your problems, and I will help you understand what the real problem is.

    Seth Godin has another take on this issue. Leaders are the management cultures worst nightmare. They show that the management culture is not necessary for success. In fact, you can succeed without the management culture.
    Now, if you think success is only monetary in this case, you are so wrong. For a true leader, making a ton o’ cash is secondary to helping shape how people think and how they behave.
    Think of the greatest leaders you know. How many were rich? How many became rich AFTER they had been recognized as successful leaders?

  • Another PowerPoint Nightmare

    The firm I work for is currently shopping around for a new PR agency. On Thursday of last week, we went over to one of the candidate firms to hear their approach and how they think they can help us.
    35 slides. Densely packed. No information. All about what they have done, not how they think they can help us.
    The density of the presentation took 3 days to sink in, and it was only this morning that I realized that this was not a good way to sell me on their potential. And I told the powers that be at our firm exactly that.
    The folks at this firm need Cliff.
    And a little dose of Kathy Sierra wouldn’t hurt! This firm was showing us how they had kicked ass (past tense), not how they would help us kick ass NOW!

  • And where would I be running to?

    Jeremy…things are getting weird at Yahoo. [here]

  • Non-Linear Thought: Leaving you changed

    I am noted for having an unusual way of approaching problems. In fact, over a decade ago, someone leaned across the cube wall to me at my first real project and said “I need your non-linear approach to help me solve this problem”.

    I still consider that the greatest compliment that I have ever received.
    Then I stumbled across this post, which quotes the paper Wicked Problems: Naming the Pain in Organizations

    “The natural pattern of human problem solving appears chaotic on the surface, but it is the chaos of an earthquake or the breaking of an ocean wave. It reveals deeper forces and flows that have their own order and pattern. The non-linear pattern of activity that expert designers follow gives us fresh insight into what happens when we work on a complex problem. It reveals that in normal problem-solving behaviour, we may seem to wander about, making only halting progress toward the solution. This non-linear process is not a defect, not a sign of stupidity or lack of training, but rather the mark of a natural learning process. It suggests that humans are oriented more toward learning (a process that leaves us changed) than toward problem solving (a process focused on changing our surroundings).”

    Have you and your team solved any wicked problems lately?

    Johnnie Moore extracts another salient quote from the original paper. He focuses on the last sentence of the large quote above.

    I am searching for those things that leave me changed.